Exterior mirror element with wide angle portion

ABSTRACT

An electrochromic mirror reflective element suitable for use in an exterior rearview mirror assembly of a vehicle includes a front substrate and a rear substrate and an electrochromic medium disposed therebetween. A principal planar reflector portion has a principal mirror reflector disposed at the rear substrate and an auxiliary wide angle curved portion has an auxiliary mirror reflector coated at a curved recess established at a region of a second surface of the front substrate or a third surface of the rear substrate by at least one of grinding and ablating. The curved recess has a cross-dimension size that is in the range from about 30 millimeters to about 80 millimeters, and has a radius of curvature that is in the range from about 200 millimeters to about 1,000 millimeters, and has a maximum recess depth that is in the range from about 0.11 millimeters to about 4.04 millimeters.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/776,780, filed May 10, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,824,045,which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/124,297,filed May 21, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,748,856, which claims thebenefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/939,753, filed May23, 2007, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to exterior rearview mirror assembliesand, more particularly, to an exterior rearview mirror assembly havingan auxiliary wide angle reflector portion or optic for providing thedriver with a wider angle rearward field of view as compared to asubstantially planar portion of the rearview mirror.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known to provide a wide angle rearward field of view to a driverof a vehicle via a wide angle reflective element at one or both of theexterior rearview mirror assemblies. Such a wide angle rearward field ofview may be provided via a curved mirror reflector, or an auxiliary wideangle reflective element may be provided at a portion of a generallyplanar mirror reflector, such as via a stick on curved auxiliaryreflector element attached to the generally planar mirror reflector.Such add-on curved auxiliary reflectors may be provided at the frontsurface or first surface (the surface of the mirror reflector that isgenerally facing rearward and at least partially toward the driver ofthe vehicle) and provide a reduced image size (as compared to the sizeof the generally planar reflector) wide angle rearward field of viewthat is readily viewable by the driver of the vehicle. However, suchcurved, auxiliary wide angle reflectors are additional components andadd to the cost and manufacturing complexity of the mirror assembly.Other auxiliary wide angle reflectors have been proposed, such as thosedescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,315,419; 7,097,312; and/or 6,522,451,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an exterior rearview mirror reflector orreflective element having a generally planar (or slightly curved)principal reflector portion and an auxiliary wide angle reflectorportion integrally formed at the mirror substrate.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an exterior rearviewmirror assembly for a vehicle includes a mirror reflective elementcomprising a mirror substrate having a front surface and a rear surface.The mirror substrate comprises a first reflector portion and a secondreflector portion, with the first reflector portion comprising aprincipal reflector portion of the mirror reflective element. The rearsurface of the mirror substrate has a curved recess established thereat,and the second curved reflector portion is established at the curvedrecess. The curved recess has a radius of curvature that is less than aradius of curvature of the first reflector portion (where the radius ofcurvature of the first reflector portion may be substantially infinityfor a generally flat or planar mirror element or substrate with agenerally flat or planar principal reflector portion, or may be ameasurable radius for a curved or slightly curved or bent mirror elementand/or substrate), whereby the curved recess, when coated by a reflectorcoating, provides a wide angle auxiliary reflector portion integrallyformed with the mirror reflective element (such as by physicallyremoving, such as by grinding or sculpting or physically ablating or thelike, a portion of the substrate so as to create or establish a physicaldish-shaped convex depression or recess or crater at the surface of thesubstrate).

The mirror reflective element may comprise an electro-optic mirrorreflective element having a first or front mirror substrate and a secondor rear mirror substrate and an electro-optic medium disposedtherebetween. The curved recess is established at a rear surface of thesecond or rear mirror substrate. The first reflector portion maycomprise a metallic reflector disposed at a front surface of the rearmirror substrate and between the rear mirror substrate and theelectro-optic medium. The metallic reflector at the front surface of therear mirror substrate has a window established thereat, with the windowsubstantially corresponding to a location of the curved recess at therear surface of the mirror substrate. Optionally, the first reflectorportion may comprise a metallic reflector disposed at the rear surfaceof the rear mirror substrate, with the second reflector portioncomprising the metallic reflector disposed at the curved recess.

Therefore, the present invention provides an auxiliary wide angle mirrorreflector portion that is integrally formed with the mirror substrateand mirror reflective element. The present invention thus provides anauxiliary wide angle reflector portion without additional components orelements being adhered to the front or rear surface of the reflectiveelement, and thus provides an enhanced mirror reflective element withsuch an auxiliary wide angle reflector portion. The present inventionprovides a curved wide angle reflector portion that is behind the firstor front surface of the mirror reflective element so that the first orfront surface of the mirror reflective element comprises a generally orsubstantially planar surface with the curved reflector portionestablished or formed behind and viewable through the generally orsubstantially planar front surface of the mirror reflective element.

These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of thepresent invention will become apparent upon review of the followingspecification in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of an exterior mirror assembly with anauxiliary wide angle reflector in accordance with the present invention,shown as viewed in the direction of travel of the vehicle;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of an exterior mirror reflector inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the mirror reflector of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic of the curvature of the auxiliary wide anglereflector of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a table showing dimensions of the auxiliary wide anglereflector for various applications thereof in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of another mirror reflector in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the mirror reflector of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of another mirror reflector in accordancewith the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings and the illustrative embodiments depictedtherein, an exterior rearview mirror assembly 10 for a vehicle includesa mirror reflector or reflective element 12 received in and/or supportedby a mirror shell or casing 14 (FIG. 1). Mirror assembly 10 is mountedat the side 16 a of a host or subject vehicle 16. Mirror reflector 12includes a first or principal mirror reflective element portion 18 and asecond or auxiliary wide angle reflective element portion or reflectiveoptic 20 integrally formed with the mirror reflector 12, as discussedbelow. The auxiliary wide angle optic may be integrally formed such asby physically removing, such as by grinding or sculpting or physicalablation or the like, a portion of the substrate so as to create orestablish a physical dish-shaped generally convex-shaped depression orrecess or crater at the surface of the substrate, and coating the formeddepression or recess with a reflector coating or element or the like, asalso discussed below.

In the illustrated embodiment, and as shown in FIG. 3, mirror reflector12 comprises an electro-optic reflective element (but could comprise anon-electro-optic reflective element) having a front substrate 22, arear substrate 24 and an electro-optic medium 26 (such as a solidpolymer matrix electrochromic medium or the like) sandwichedtherebetween and sealed via a perimeter seal 28. Front substrate 22 hasa transparent conductor coating 30 (such as an indium tin oxide (ITO)coating or layer) disposed at its rear surface 22 a, while rearsubstrate 24 has a mirror reflector or coating 32 (such as anon-dichroic transflector, such as an ITO/Ag/ITO stack of layers orcoatings or the like) and a transparent conductor layer 34 (such as anITO or F-doped or As-doped tin oxide layer or the like) disposed at itsfront surface 24 a. The mirror reflector 12 thus comprises a thirdsurface electro-optic mirror element (such as an electrochromic mirrorelement). The front and rear substrates 22, 24 may comprise generallyplanar mirror substrates or may have a slight radius of curvature toprovide a wider angle field of view across the principal reflectorportion 18 depending on the particular application of the mirrorreflective element and exterior rearview mirror assembly.

As shown in FIG. 3, the transparent conductor layer 34 is established ordisposed at substantially the entire principal reflecting portion of thereflective element, while the mirror reflector 32 is disposed at thetransparent conductor layer 34 and with a window 32 a masked or formedthrough the mirror reflector 32 (such that a window area 32 a of therear substrate is substantially devoid of the mirror reflector coating,while the mirror reflector or coating is present at the other regions ofthe principal reflecting area of the rear substrate of the reflectiveelement). The window 32 a may be formed via any suitable means, such asvia masking of the window area during sputter deposition of the mirrorreflector 32 or the like, such as via utilizing aspects of the coatingprocesses described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/021,065,filed Dec. 23, 2004 by McCabe et al. for ELECTRO-OPTIC MIRROR CELL, nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,255,451, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety. The transparent conductor 34 is disposed oversubstantially the entire front surface 24 a of the rear substrate and atthe window region so as to provide a conductive layer or surface at theelectro-optic medium 26 and over substantially the entire interfacebetween the rear substrate and the electro-optic medium. Thus,electrical conductivity is preserved between the glass substrate and theelectro-optic medium across the interface surface of the substrateincluding at the window region, so as to provide substantially uniformdimming of the mirror reflective element (i.e. darkening of theelectro-optic medium) when an electrical voltage is applied to theconductive coatings at the opposed surfaces of the front and rearsubstrates.

As shown in FIG. 3, rear substrate 24 has the curved auxiliary wideangle mirror reflector portion 20 integrally formed therewith. In theillustrated embodiment, the auxiliary wide angle mirror reflectorportion 20 or spotter element comprises a curved (such as convex orspherical or aspherical) formation or depression or recess 24 c formedor established (such as via grinding of the rear surface of the glasssubstrate or other suitable means) at the rear surface 24 b of rearsubstrate 24. The curved recess 24 c is integrally formed as part of therear substrate and is formed at a rear surface location that isgenerally opposite or generally aligned with the window 32 a formed atthe mirror reflector 32 at the front surface 24 a of the rear substrate24. A mirror reflector or reflective coating 36 (such as a metallicreflector coating, such as aluminum or silver or chromium or alloysthereof or the like) is disposed or established (such as via sputterdeposition or chemical deposition or other establishing means) at therear or fourth surface 24 b of rear substrate 24 and at least atencompassing the curved recess 24 c to form the curved spotter orauxiliary wide angle mirror reflector portion 20. Optionally, such as ifthe reflector coating 36 is environmentally fragile or non-robust, asealing or protective layer (not shown), such as a lacquer or paint orink or the like, may be established over the reflector coating tosubstantially seal the reflector coating and/or to protect the reflectorcoating.

As shown in FIG. 3, the rear reflector coating 36 may be establishedsubstantially only at the curved recess and the region substantiallyimmediately surrounding the curved recess, or the rear reflector coatingmay cover more of the rear surface of the rear substrate. Optionally, ifthe mirror reflective element is a transflective display-on-demand typeof mirror reflective element, a window or aperture may be formed throughthe rear reflector coating (such as in applications where the rearreflector coating extends at least partially or substantially over therear surface of the substrate and at the principal reflecting portion ofthe mirror reflective element) for a display element or illuminationsource to project illumination therethrough.

Thus, the auxiliary wide angle mirror reflector portion 20 provides awide angle rearward field of view to the driver of the vehicle ascompared to the field of view provided by the generally planar orslightly curved principal reflecting area or portion 18 of the mirrorreflective element 12. The diameter or cross dimension of the wide angleminor reflector portion and the radius of curvature (with a smallerradius of curvature providing a wider angle rearward field of view) ofthe wide angle mirror reflector portion 20 are selected to provide thedesired wide angle rearward field of view, while being established at adesired or appropriate depth at the rear surface of the rear substrate.The curved recess has a radius of curvature that is smaller andpreferably substantially smaller than the radius of curvature of theprincipal reflector portion, which may have a large radius of curvaturethat may approach infinity, such as for a slightly curved to generallyor substantially planar or flat mirror element.

As can be seen with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, for a spherical orconvex construction, the diameter or cross dimension or size D (thedimension across the reflective element) of the auxiliary wide anglereflector portion and the radius of curvature R of the wide anglereflector portion determine the depth H of the recess to be formed atthe rear surface of the rear substrate. Thus, the thickness of the glasssubstrate should be selected to have a thickness that allows for theformation of the curved recess at its rear surface while limiting theaffect of the curved recess on the structural integrity of the mirrorreflective element. If a larger size or cross dimension or diameter(such as about 60 mm to about 80 mm or thereabouts, such as may be usedon an exterior rearview mirror for a larger vehicle, such as a truck orthe like) of the auxiliary wide angle reflector portion and/or a smallerradius of curvature (such as about 200 mm to about 400 mm orthereabouts) of the auxiliary wide angle reflector portion is/aredesired, the glass substrate should be thick enough to have such arecess formed at its rear surface (with the recess possibly being about1 mm deep to about 4 mm deep or thereabouts) without adversely effectingthe structural integrity of the reflective element. For example, andwith reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, if a 2 mm thick glass substrate isselected for the reflective element, an auxiliary wide angle reflectorhaving a diameter or cross dimension D of up to about 70 mm could beachieved with a 400 mm radius of curvature R by grinding a curved recesshaving a chord height or depth H of about 1.53 mm into the rear surfaceof the substrate and thus leaving about 0.47 mm of glass at the apex ofthe curved recess.

Although several radii of curvature and diameters/cross dimensions areshown in the table of FIG. 5, clearly other sizes and/or radii ofcurvature or multiple radii of curvature and/or combinations thereof maybe implemented without affecting the scope of the present invention.Optionally, for a given size or diameter of the auxiliary wide anglereflector portion, it may be desirable to provide the smallest radius ofcurvature of the curved recess (while maintaining the desired structuralintegrity of the glass substrate and/or reflective element) so as toprovide a wider angle rearward field of view to the driver of thevehicle via the auxiliary wide angle reflector portion. Although theradii of curvature and diameters and chord heights or recess depths areshown for spherical formations or constructions, aspherically formedrecesses or constructions may be integrally established at the rearsurface of the rear substrate to provide other, aspheric or non-uniformwide angle field of views, without affecting the scope of the presentinvention. For such applications, the depth of the aspheric curvedrecess should be determined to ensure that the curved recess is notestablished too deep into rear surface of the glass substrate for theparticular applications. Thus, the auxiliary wide angle reflector optic,as viewed through the front surface of the reflective element by aviewer viewing the front or front surface of the reflective element, canbe a spherical or aspherical reflector optic, depending on theparticular application of the reflective element and mirror assembly andthe desired rearward field of view provided by the auxiliary wide anglereflector optic.

Although shown as a generally circular-shaped auxiliary wide anglemirror reflector portion, the auxiliary wide angle mirror reflectorportion of the present invention may comprise other shapes and/or may beotherwise located or established at the mirror reflective element, whileremaining within the spirit and scope of the present invention.Optionally, the wide angle reflector may comprise a generallyconvex-shaped reflector, such as a spherically convex shape, or the wideangle reflector may comprise a generally convex-shaped reflector havinga compound curvature convex shape, such as a multi-radius shape oraspherical shape or the like. For example, the auxiliary wide anglemirror reflector portion may be formed or sculpted or drilled or groundat a corner or outboard region, preferably an outboard, upper region ofthe mirror substrate relative to the side of a vehicle to which themirror would be mounted and viewed by a driver of that vehicle (orelsewhere depending on the particular application), and may comprise apartial circle or partial spherical depression or recess or other shape(such as multi-radius or non-spherical or aspherical shape or segment orsuch as a rectangular shape that may be curved as a partialcylindrical-shaped recess or the like). Optionally, the wide anglereflector may be formed or sculpted or drilled at the rear surface ofthe substrate so that the reflector is effectively canted relative tothe mirror substrate so as to reflect the wide angle image toward thedriver of the vehicle. The rear surface of the corner region of themirror substrate may be formed or ground or sculpted or otherwiseprocessed to provide the desired shape and/or contour/curvature of theauxiliary reflector portion, and the rear surface of the mirrorsubstrate may be coated or otherwise processed to provide the mirrorreflector at the established curved recess at the corner region of themirror substrate, such as in a similar manner as described above. Thewide angle reflector may utilize aspects of the mirror assembliesdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,315,419; 7,097,312; and/or 6,522,451;and/or PCT International Publication WO 01/81956 A1 to George E. PlatzerJr. entitled “Compound Automotive Rearview Mirror”; and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005; and/or Ser. No.11/912,576, filed Oct. 25, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,626,749; and/orU.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/050,810, filed May 6, 2008;and/or Ser. No. 61/050,853, filed May 6, 2008, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Therefore, the mirror reflector or reflective element or transflectiveelectro-optic mirror element of the present invention has an auxiliarywide angle mirror reflector portion established integrally into the rearsubstrate. The auxiliary mirror reflector portion may be formed orestablished via grinding a portion of the rear surface of the rearsubstrate and coating the ground area. The rear surface reflectorcoating may be established or disposed substantially only at the groundarea or curved recess, or may be established or disposed substantiallyover the entire rear surface of the rear substrate (particularly forapplications of the integrally formed wide angle auxiliary mirrorreflector portion in fourth surface reflector mirror elements, asdiscussed below).

Optionally, the integrally formed auxiliary wide angle mirror reflectorportion of the present invention may be integrally formed at a rearsurface of a fourth surface reflecting electro-optic mirror reflectiveelement, whereby the rear surface mirror reflector disposed at theauxiliary wide angle mirror reflector portion may be established ordisposed over substantially the entire rear surface of the rearsubstrate, with the front surface of the rear substrate having only thetransparent conductor layer established thereat. Optionally, theintegrally formed auxiliary wide angle mirror reflector portion of thepresent invention may be integrally formed at a rear surface ofnon-electro-optic or non-electrochromic reflective element, such as asingle substrate mirror reflective element. In such an embodiment, thesingle substrate may have a mirror reflector or coating established ordisposed at its rear surface and at the integrally formed recess of thewide angle mirror reflector portion, such that the rear surfacereflector of the mirror reflective element is established over theentire rear surface to form the principal reflector portion of themirror element and the auxiliary wide angle reflector portion of themirror element. The single substrate may comprise a generally flat orplanar substrate or a slightly curved substrate or a prismatic elementor substrate, while remaining within the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

Optionally, and as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a mirror reflector 112 maycomprise an electro-optic reflective element (but could comprise anon-electro-optic reflective element) having a front substrate 122, arear substrate 124 and an electro-optic medium 126 (such as a solidpolymer matrix electrochromic medium or the like) sandwichedtherebetween and sealed via a perimeter seal 128. The electrochromicreflective element 112 includes the electrochromic medium 126 sandwichedbetween the front and rear substrates and at a principal reflectingregion 118 of the reflective element 112. In the illustrated embodiment,the rear substrate 124 is cut away or formed to accommodate the wideangle element 120 at a cut-away region 121 (such as in a similar manneras described in U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/050,810, filedMay 6, 2008; and/or Ser. No. 61/050,853, filed May 6, 2008, which arehereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties) so that thewide angle element 120 is established at the rear surface 122 a of thefront substrate 122 and at the cut-away region 121 and at a wide anglereflector region 122 b of front substrate 122. Thus, the wide angleelement may be established at a cutaway region and rearward of the frontsubstrate and adjacent to the electrochromic medium and rear substrate,such that the mirror reflector assembly does not provide a dimmingfunction at the wide angle reflecting region.

In the illustrated embodiment, front substrate 122 has a transparentconductor coating 130 (such as an indium tin oxide (ITO) coating orlayer) disposed at its rear surface 122 a, while rear substrate 124 hasa mirror reflector or coating 132 (such as a non-dichroic transflector,such as an ITO/Ag/ITO stack of layers or coatings or the like, which mayinclude a transparent conductor layer such as an ITO or F-doped orAs-doped tin oxide layer or the like) disposed at its front surface 124a. The mirror reflector 112 thus comprises a third surface electro-opticmirror element (such as an electrochromic mirror element) at theprincipal reflecting region of the reflector that is bounded by the seal128. The front and rear substrates 122, 124 may comprise generallyplanar mirror substrates or may have a slight radius of curvature toprovide a wider angle field of view across the principal reflectorportion 118 depending on the particular application of the mirrorreflective element and exterior rearview mirror assembly.

As shown in FIG. 6, front substrate 122 has the curved auxiliary wideangle mirror reflector portion 120 integrally formed therewith. In theillustrated embodiment, the auxiliary wide angle mirror reflectorportion 120 or spotter element comprises a curved (such as convex orspherical or aspherical) formation or depression or recess 122 c formedor established (such as via grinding of the rear surface of the glasssubstrate or other suitable physical material removal means) at the rearsurface 122 a of front substrate 122. The curved recess 122 c isintegrally formed as part of the front substrate and is formed at a rearsurface location that is at the cut-away region 121 of the mirrorreflective element assembly. The mirror reflector or reflective coating120 a (such as a metallic reflector coating, such as aluminum or silveror chromium or alloys thereof or the like, and optionally may be similarin materials and/or reflectance to the mirror reflector 132 at frontsurface 124 a of rear substrate 124, but other coatings could beutilized at the wide angle reflector depression 122 c at rear surface122 a of front substrate 122) is disposed or established (such as viasputter deposition or chemical deposition or other establishing means)at the rear or second surface 122 a of rear substrate 122 and at leastat encompassing the curved recess 122 c to form the curved spotter orauxiliary wide angle mirror reflector portion 120. Optionally, such asif the reflector coating 120 a is environmentally fragile or non-robust,a sealing or protective layer (not shown), such as a lacquer or paint orink or the like, may be established over the reflector coating tosubstantially seal the reflector coating and/or to protect the reflectorcoating.

Thus, when forming the front substrate 122 and the mirror reflector orreflective element assembly 112, the rear surface 122 a of frontsubstrate 122 may be coated with the transparent conductor coating 130(such as across its entire or substantially its entire rear surface),and the rear surface of the extended portion or wide angle region 122 bof front substrate 122 may be ground or physically ablated to establishthe recess or depression 122 c at the rear surface 122 a of frontsubstrate 122 (such as by first physically removing the transparentconductor coating 130 at the wide angle region of the front substrateand then physically removing a portion of the substrate to establish therecess or depression at the rear surface of the front substrate). Therecess or depression 122 c may then be coated with the mirror reflectoror coating 120 a to establish the wide angle reflector 120 at theoverhang region or cut-away region or wide angle reflector region 121 ofthe mirror reflector 112. Optionally, the wide angle element may utilizeaspects of the Platzer-type auxiliary mirrors that follow the teachingof PCT International Publication WO 01/81956 A1 to George E. Platzer Jr.entitled “Compound Automotive Rearview Mirror”, the entire disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

Optionally, the front substrate may include a perimeter band and/ordemarcating band and/or hiding layer that traverses the front substrateat the wide angle reflecting region to demarcate the wide anglereflecting region from the generally planar or principal reflectingregion and optionally to generally circumscribe at least a portion ofthe wide angle reflector, such as by utilizing aspects of the mirrorassemblies described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,274,501; 7,184,190; 7,255,451;and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005;and/or Ser. No. 11/912,576, filed Oct. 25, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No.7,626,749; and/or U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/050,853,filed May 6, 2008; and/or Ser. No. 61/050,810, filed May 6, 2008, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Thehiding layer thus may mask or hide from direct view of the driver theseal and/or other components or elements of the mirror reflectorassembly construction that are to the rear of the front substrate and inthe area of the bordering or hiding layer or element. The hiding layerthus serves as a demarcation element and a hiding or occluding elementfor the wide angle mirror reflector established at the rear of the glasssubstrate at the wide angle reflecting region of the mirror reflectorassembly. The hiding layer or demarcation element may demarcate ordelineate or distinguish or frame the wide angle reflector from thegenerally planar principal reflecting region of the reflective elementto enhance the discernibility of the wide angle reflector at the wideangle reflecting region of the mirror reflector assembly, while hidingthe perimeter seal of the electro-optic mirror reflector assembly.

Optionally, and as shown in FIG. 8, a non-electro-optic mirror element212 may include a generally planar substrate 222 with a wide anglereflector 220 established at a rear surface 222 a of substrate 222.Substrate 222 has the curved auxiliary wide angle mirror reflectorportion 220 integrally formed therewith. In the illustrated embodiment,the auxiliary wide angle mirror reflector portion 220 or spotter elementcomprises a curved (such as convex or spherical or aspherical) formationor depression or recess 222 c formed or established (such as viagrinding of the rear surface of the glass substrate or other suitablephysical material removal means) at the rear surface 222 a of substrate222.

The rear surface 222 a of substrate 222 is coated with a reflectorcoating 234, such as a transflective reflector coating that is partiallylight transmissive. The wide angle reflector coating 220 a and theprincipal reflecting coating 234 may comprise the same material (wherethe substrate may be formed and the depression or recess 222 c may beestablished at the rear surface of the substrate prior to the coatingprocess, which may coat the entire rear surface of the substrate) or maybe different materials (or applied in different processes), such as forapplications where the substrate is coated with the transflectivereflector 234 before the depression or recess 222 c is established (byremoving the reflector coating and a portion of the substrate), and thenthe recess 222 c is coated with the wide angle reflector coating. In theillustrated embodiment, a display element 238 is disposed to the rear ofthe substrate 222 and behind the transflective coating 234, wherebydisplay information or illumination emitted by the display element 238is viewable through the transflective coating and the substrate by aperson viewing the front surface of the substrate, while the presence ofthe display element to the rear of the substrate is rendered covert bythe transflective coating when the display element is not activated.Optionally, if a transflective reflector coating is disposed at therecess or depression 222 c, it is envisioned that a display element orillumination element or the like may be disposed to the rear of the wideangle reflector 220 so as to be viewable, when activated, through thesubstrate by a person viewing the front surface of the substrate, whilebeing substantially covert when deactivated.

Therefore, the present invention provides a mirror reflective elementwith an integrally formed auxiliary wide angle mirror reflector portionand a method of making such a mirror reflective element. For example,the mirror substrate may cut to the desired shape or form, and the rearsurface of the substrate may be ground or otherwise processed to formthe desired curvature of the recess (such as a spherical or asphericalcurvature). The recess may be formed before or after the front surfaceof the mirror substrate is coated with the transparent conductor and/orthe metallic reflector (with the window established thereat, such as viamasking during sputter deposition of the metallic reflector or such asvia laser ablation of the metallic reflector coating at the window areaor the like). The front surface and/or rear surface of the mirrorsubstrate may be coated with the reflector coatings (and optionally, thesurfaces may be coated via a two-side sputter deposition process, suchas by utilizing aspects described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/021,065, filed Dec. 23, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,451, which ishereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) to establishthe desired reflector portions of the mirror reflective element. Therear substrate may be assembled to the front substrate (with theelectro-optic medium disposed and sealed therebetween) to assemble themirror reflective element. Optionally, the rear surface of the rearsubstrate may be ground and/or coated to establish the auxiliary wideangle reflector portion after the mirror reflective element isassembled.

Optionally, conductive electrode coated glass substrates arecommercially available from various sources. For example, tinoxide-coated glass substrates, known as “TEC-Glass” products, may beobtained from Libbey-Owens-Ford Co., LOF Glass Division, Toledo, Ohio,and such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,004,592, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Such “TEC-Glass”products are manufactured by an on-line chemical vapor depositionprocess that pyrolytically deposits onto clear float glass a multi-layerthin film structure, which includes a microscopically thin coating offluorine-doped tin oxide (having a fine grain uniform structure) withadditional undercoating thin film layers disposed between thefluorine-doped tin oxide layer and the underlying glass substrate. The“TEC-Glass” substrates may be available in different thicknesses, suchas 2 thick or 3 mm thick glass substrates and/or the like.

Optionally, the mirror assembly and/or mirror reflective elementassembly or sub-assembly may include a back plate that includes aperimeter framing portion or bezel portion that extends around theperimeter edges of the reflective element to support the reflectiveelement and frame the reflective element at the mirror assembly (such asby utilizing aspects of the mirror assemblies described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/520,193, filed Sep. 13, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No.7,581,859, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety). The perimeter bezel portion may be narrow or small dependingon the particular application of the reflective element and mirrorreflector sub-assembly. Optionally, the mirror reflector sub-assemblymay comprise a bezelless or frameless reflective element (such as thetypes described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,184,190; and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005; and/or Ser. No.11/021,065, filed Dec. 23, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,451, and/or PCTApplication No. PCT/US2006/018567, filed May 15, 2006 by Donnelly Corp.et al., which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties), whereby the back plate may not include a perimeter framingportion or bezel portion around the perimeter of the reflective element.

Optionally, the mirror assembly may include a heater pad or element atthe rear surface of the glass substrate to provide an anti-fogging ofde-fogging feature to the exterior mirror assembly (such as by utilizingaspects of the heater elements or pads described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/334,139, filed Jan. 18, 2006 by Byers et al. forMIRROR ASSEMBLY WITH HEATER ELEMENT, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,400,435; and/orU.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/853,850, filed Oct. 24, 2006;Ser. No. 60/918,089, filed Mar. 15, 2007; and/or Ser. No. 60/970,687,filed Sep. 7, 2007; and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US07/82099, filedOct. 22, 2007, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties). The back plate and/or heater pad may include suitableelectrical connectors and connections incorporated therein (such as byutilizing aspects of the mirror assembly described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/334,139, filed Jan. 18, 2006 by Byers et al. forMIRROR ASSEMBLY WITH HEATER ELEMENT, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,400,435, whichis hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) forelectrically connecting the heater pad and/or display element (or othersuitable electrical connectors may be utilized, such as electrical leadsor wire harnesses or pigtails or other separate connectors or cables orthe like). The heater pad may conform to the rear surface of the rearsubstrate and thus may provide heating to the auxiliary wide anglemirror reflector portion, and thus may provide substantially uniformheating of the mirror reflective element over substantially the entirereflecting area of the mirror reflective element, including theintegrally formed auxiliary wide angle mirror reflector portion.

As stated above, the reflective element of the rearview mirror assemblymay comprise an electro-optic or electrochromic reflective element orcell, such as an electrochromic mirror assembly and electrochromicreflective element utilizing principles disclosed in commonly assignedU.S. Pat. Nos. 7,195,381; 6,690,268; 5,140,455; 5,151,816; 6,178,034;6,154,306; 6,002,544; 5,567,360; 5,525,264; 5,610,756; 5,406,414;5,253,109; 5,076,673; 5,073,012; 5,117,346; 5,724,187; 5,668,663;5,910,854; 5,142,407; and/or 4,712,879, and/or U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/021,065, filed Dec. 23, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,451;and/or Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005 by Kamer et al. forMOUNTING ASSEMBLY FOR VEHICLE INTERIOR MIRROR; and/or PCT ApplicationNo. PCT/US2006/018567, filed May 15, 2006 and published Nov. 23, 2006 asInternational Publication No. WO 2006/124682, and/or European PatentApplication No. EP0728618, filed Dec. 8, 1995 and published Aug. 28,1996; and/or European Patent Application EP0729864, filed Dec. 11, 1995and published Sep. 4, 1996; and/or Australian Patent ApplicationAU4031795, filed Dec. 11, 1995 and published Feb. 8, 1996, and/orAustralian Patent Application AU4031895, filed Dec. 11, 1995 andpublished Aug. 29, 1996, which are all hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, and/or as disclosed in the followingpublications: N. R. Lynam, “Electrochromic Automotive Day/NightMirrors”, SAE Technical Paper Series 870636 (1987); N. R. Lynam, “SmartWindows for Automobiles”, SAE Technical Paper Series 900419 (1990); N.R. Lynam and A. Agrawal, “Automotive Applications of ChromogenicMaterials”, Large Area Chromogenics: Materials and Devices forTransmittance Control, C. M. Lampert and C. G. Granquist, EDS., OpticalEngineering Press, Wash. (1990), which are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entireties. The thicknesses and materials ofthe coatings on the substrates of the electrochromic reflective element,such as on the third surface of the reflective element assembly, may beselected to provide a desired color or tint to the mirror reflectiveelement, such as a blue colored reflector, such as is known in the artand/or such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,274,501; 5,910,854 and6,420,036, and in PCT Application No. PCT/US03/29776, filed Sep. 9, 2003by Donnelly Corp. et al. for MIRROR REFLECTIVE ELEMENT ASSEMBLY, whichare all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, use of an elemental semiconductor mirror, such as a siliconmetal mirror, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,286,965; 6,196,688;5,535,056; 5,751,489; and 6,065,840, and/or in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/993,302, filed Nov. 19, 2004 by Lynam for MIRROR REFLECTIVEELEMENT FOR A VEHICLE, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,338,177, which are all herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties, can beadvantageous because such elemental semiconductor mirrors (such as canbe formed by depositing a thin film of silicon) can be greater than 50percent reflecting in the photopic (SAE J964a measured), while beingalso substantially transmitting of light (up to 20 percent or evenmore). Such silicon mirrors also have the advantage of being able to bedeposited onto a flat glass substrate and to be bent into a curved (suchas a convex or aspheric) curvature, which is also advantageous sincemany passenger-side exterior rearview mirrors are bent or curved.

Optionally, the reflective element may include a perimeter metallicband, such as the types described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,184,190; and/or PCTApplication No. PCT/US03/29776, filed Sep. 19, 2003 by Donnelly Corp. etal. for ELECTROCHROMIC MIRROR ASSEMBLY; and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US03/35381, filed Nov. 5, 2003 by Donnelly Corp. et al. forELECTRO-OPTIC REFLECTIVE ELEMENT ASSEMBLY; and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/021,065, filed Dec. 23, 2004 by McCabe et al.for ELECTRO-OPTIC MIRROR CELL, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,451; Ser. No.11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005 by Kamer et al. for MOUNTING ASSEMBLYFOR VEHICLE INTERIOR MIRROR, which are all hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties. Optionally, the reflective element mayinclude indicia formed at and viewable at the reflective element, suchas by utilizing aspects of the reflective elements described in PCTApplication No PCT/US2006/018567, filed May 15, 2006; and U.S.provisional application Ser. No. 60/681,250, filed May 16, 2005; Ser.No. 60/690,400, filed Jun. 14, 2005; Ser. No. 60/695,149, filed Jun. 29,2005; Ser. No. 60/730,334, filed Oct. 26, 2005; Ser. No. 60/750,199,filed Dec. 14, 2005; Ser. No. 60/774,449, filed Feb. 17, 2006; and Ser.No. 60/783,496, filed Mar. 18, 2006, which are all hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the reflective element may comprise a single substrate witha reflective coating at its rear surface. The mirror assembly thus maycomprise a prismatic mirror assembly or planar, or non-planar mirror orother mirror having a single substrate reflective element, such as amirror assembly utilizing aspects of the mirror assemblies described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,318,870; 6,598,980; 5,327,288; 4,948,242; 4,826,289;4,436,371; and 4,435,042; and PCT Application No. PCT/US04/015424, filedMay 18, 2004 by Donnelly Corporation et al. for MIRROR ASSEMBLY FORVEHICLE; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/933,842, filed Sep. 3,2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,249,860, which are hereby incorporated hereinby reference in their entireties. Optionally, the reflective element maycomprise a conventional prismatic or flat reflective element or prism,or may comprise a prismatic or flat reflective element of the typesdescribed in PCT Application No. PCT/US03/29776, filed Sep. 19, 2003 byDonnelly Corp. et al. for MIRROR REFLECTIVE ELEMENT ASSEMBLY; U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/709,434, filed May 5, 2004 by Lynam forMIRROR REFLECTIVE ELEMENT, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,420,756; Ser. No.10/933,842, filed Sep. 3, 2004 by Kulas et al. for INTERIOR REARVIEWMIRROR ASSEMBLY, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,249,860; Ser. No. 11/021,065, filedDec. 23, 2004 by McCabe et al. for ELECTRO-OPTIC MIRROR CELL, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,255,451; and/or Ser. No. 10/993,302, filed Nov. 19, 2004 byLynam for MIRROR REFLECTIVE ELEMENT FOR A VEHICLE, now U.S. Pat. No.7,338,177, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2004/015424, filed May 18,2004 by Donnelly Corp. et al. for MIRROR ASSEMBLY FOR VEHICLE, which areall hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the mirror assembly may include one or more displays, suchas the types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,530,240 and/or 6,329,925,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties,and/or display-on-demand or transflective type displays, such as thetypes disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,184,190; 7,195,381; 6,690,268;5,668,663 and/or 5,724,187, and/or in U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/528,269, filed Mar. 17, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,274,501; Ser. No.10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 by Hutzel et al. for ACCESSORY SYSTEMFOR VEHICLE; Ser. No. 11/284,543, filed Nov. 22, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No.7,370,983; and/or Ser. No. 11/021,065, filed Dec. 23, 2004 by McCabe etal. for ELECTRO-OPTIC MIRROR CELL, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,451; and/orPCT Application No. PCT/US03/29776, filed Sep. 9, 2003 by Donnelly Corp.et al. for MIRROR REFLECTIVE ELEMENT ASSEMBLY; and/or PCT ApplicationNo. PCT/US03/35381, filed Nov. 5, 2003 by Donnelly Corp. et al. forELECTRO-OPTIC REFLECTIVE ELEMENT ASSEMBLY; and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US03/40611, filed Dec. 19, 2003 by Donnelly Corp. et al. forACCESSORY SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE, which are all hereby incorporated hereinby reference in their entireties, or may include or incorporate videodisplays or the like, such as the types described in PCT Application No.PCT/US03/40611, filed Dec. 19, 2003 by Donnelly Corp. et al. forACCESSORY SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005; and/or Ser. No. 11/284,543, filed Nov.22, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,370,983; and/or U.S. provisionalapplication Ser. No. 60/630,061, filed Nov. 22, 2004 by Lynam et al. forMIRROR ASSEMBLY WITH VIDEO DISPLAY; and Ser. No. 60/667,048, filed Mar.31, 2005 by Lynam et al. for MIRROR ASSEMBLY WITH VIDEO DISPLAY, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the mirror reflective element may comprise a transflectivedisplay on demand reflective element that is partially transmissive andpartially reflective, so that the light emanating from the displayelement may be transmitted through the reflective element when anillumination source is activated, but the display is substantiallynon-visible or viewable when the illumination source is deactivated.Optionally, the mirror reflective element may comprise a singlesubstrate or non-electro-optic reflective element, with the auxiliarywide angle reflector portion being integrally formed or established at arear surface of the reflective element, while remaining within thespirit and scope of the present invention. For example, the reflectiveelement may utilize aspects of the reflective elements described in U.S.Pat. Nos. 7,184,190; 6,690,268; 5,668,663 and/or 5,724,187, and/or inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/993,302, filed Nov. 19, 2004 byLynam for MIRROR REFLECTIVE ELEMENT FOR A VEHICLE, now U.S. Pat. No.7,338,177; Ser. No. 10/528,269, filed Mar. 17, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No.7,274,501; and/or Ser. No. 11/021,065, filed Dec. 23, 2004 by McCabe etal. for ELECTRO-OPTIC MIRROR CELL, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,451, whichare all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the mirror assembly may include a blind spot indicatorand/or a turn signal indicator, such as an indicator or indicators ofthe types described in U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/853,850,filed Oct. 24, 2006; and/or Ser. No. 60/918,089, filed Mar. 15, 2007;and/or Ser. No. 60/970,687, filed Sep. 7, 2007; and/or PCT ApplicationNo. PCT/US07/82099, filed Oct. 22, 2007; and/or U.S. Pat. Nos.6,198,409; 5,929,786; and 5,786,772, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2006/026148, filed Jul. 5, 2006 by Donnelly Corp. et al. forVEHICLE EXTERIOR MIRROR ASSEMBLY WITH BLIND SPOT INDICATOR, which arehereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The signalindicator or indication module may include or utilize aspects of variouslight modules or systems or devices, such as the types described in U.S.Pat. Nos. 6,227,689; 6,582,109; 5,371,659; 5,497,306; 5,669,699;5,823,654; 6,176,602; and/or 6,276,821, and/or U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/520,193, filed Sep. 13, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,581,859,and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2006/018567, filed May 16, 2006, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Such an indicator or indicators may function as a lane change assist(LCA) indicator or indicators and/or a blind spot indicator orindicators. Such blind spot indicators are typically activated when anobject is detected (via a side object or blind spot detection system orthe like such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,038,577; 6,882,287;6,198,409; 5,929,786; and 5,786,772, and/or U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/315,675, filed Dec. 22, 2005 by Higgins-Luthman for OBJECTDETECTION SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,720,580; and/or PCTApplication No. PCT/US2006/026148, filed Jul. 5, 2006 by Donnelly Corp.et al. for VEHICLE EXTERIOR MIRROR ASSEMBLY WITH BLIND SPOT INDICATOR,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties)at the side and/or rear of the vehicle (at the blind spot) and when theturn signal is also activated, so as to provide an alert to the driverof the host vehicle that there is an object or vehicle in the lane nextto the host vehicle at a time when the driver of the host vehicleintends to move over into the adjacent lane. Optionally, andalternately, the indicator or indicators may function as a lane changeassist indicator or indicators, where the host vehicle may be detectedto be moving into an adjacent lane without the turn signal beingactivated, and an object or vehicle may be detected at the adjacentlane, whereby the LCA indicator or indicators may be activated toprovide an alert to the driver of the lane change to assist the driverin avoiding unintentional lane changes and/or lane changes when avehicle or object is detected in the adjacent lane.

The blind spot indicators thus may be operable to provide an indicationto the driver of the host vehicle that an object or other vehicle hasbeen detected in the lane or area adjacent to the side of the hostvehicle. The blind spot indicator may be operable in association with ablind spot detection system, which may include an imaging sensor orsensors, or an ultrasonic sensor or sensors, or a sonar sensor orsensors or the like. For example, the blind spot detection system mayutilize aspects of the blind spot detection and/or imaging systemsdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,038,577; 6,882,287; 6,198,409; 5,929,786;and/or 5,786,772, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/239,980,filed Sep. 30, 2005 by Camilleri et al. for VISION SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE;and/or Ser. No. 11/315,675, filed Dec. 22, 2005 by Higgins-Luthman forOBJECT DETECTION SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,720,580, and/orU.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/638,687, filed Dec. 23, 2004 byHiggins-Luthman for OBJECT DETECTION SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE; Ser. No.60/628,709, filed Nov. 17, 2004 by Camilleri et al. for IMAGING ANDDISPLAY SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE; Ser. No. 60/614,644, filed Sep. 30, 2004;and/or Ser. No. 60/618,686, filed Oct. 14, 2004 by Laubinger for VEHICLEIMAGING SYSTEM, and/or of the reverse or backup aid systems, such as therearwardly directed vehicle vision systems described in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,550,677; 5,760,962; 5,670,935; 6,201,642; 6,396,397; 6,498,620;6,717,610 and/or 6,757,109, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/418,486, filed Apr. 18, 2003 by McMahon et al. for VEHICLE IMAGINGSYSTEM, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,005,974, and/or of the automatic headlampcontrols described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,796,094 and/or 5,715,093; and/orU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/105,757, filed Apr. 14, 2005 bySchofield et al. for IMAGING SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE, now U.S. Pat. No.7,526,103; and/or U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/607,963,filed Sep. 8, 2004 by Schofield for IMAGING SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE, and/orof the rain sensors described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,250,148 and 6,341,523,and/or of other imaging systems, such as the types described in U.S.Pat. Nos. 6,353,392 and 6,313,454, which may utilize various imagingsensors or imaging array sensors or cameras or the like, such as a CMOSimaging array sensor, a CCD sensor or other sensors or the like, such asthe types disclosed in commonly assigned, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677;5,760,962; 6,097,023 and 5,796,094, and U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/441,341, filed Nov. 16, 1999 by Schofield et al. for VEHICLEHEADLIGHT CONTROL USING IMAGING SENSOR, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,339,149,and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2003/036177 filed Nov. 14, 2003,published Jun. 3, 2004 as PCT Publication No. WO 2004/047421 A3, withall of the above referenced U.S. patents, patent applications andprovisional applications and PCT applications being commonly assignedand being hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The constructions of the present invention are economical and effectivecompared to the more complicated and potentially more costlyconstructions of other mirror assemblies. For example, no additionalelements or reflectors need be positioned at the front or rear surfaceof the reflective element, since the auxiliary reflector portion isintegrally formed and/or established at the reflective element duringmanufacture of the reflective element.

Changes and modifications to the specifically described embodiments maybe carried out without departing from the principles of the presentinvention, which is intended to be limited only by the scope of theappended claims as interpreted according to the principles of patentlaw.

1. An electrochromic mirror reflective element suitable for use in anexterior rearview mirror assembly of a vehicle, said electrochromicmirror reflective element comprising: a front glass substrate having afirst surface and a second surface; a rear glass substrate having athird surface and a fourth surface; an electrochromic medium disposedbetween said front and rear glass substrates, wherein saidelectrochromic medium is bounded by a seal; said electrochromic mirrorreflective element comprising a principal planar reflector portion andan auxiliary wide angle curved portion; wherein said principal planarreflector portion comprises a principal mirror reflector disposed atsaid rear glass substrate; wherein said auxiliary wide angle curvedportion comprises one of (a) a curved recess established at a region ofsaid second surface of said front glass substrate by at least one ofgrinding and ablating and (b) a curved recess established at a region ofsaid fourth surface of said rear glass substrate by at least one ofgrinding and ablating; wherein said auxiliary wide angle curved portioncomprises an auxiliary mirror reflector coated at said curved recess;wherein said first surface of said front glass substrate comprises agenerally planar surface; wherein said third surface of said rear glasssubstrate comprises a generally planar surface; wherein said curvedrecess has a cross-dimension size that is in the range from about 30millimeters to about 80 millimeters; wherein said curved recesscomprises a radius of curvature that is in the range from about 200millimeters to about 1,000 millimeters; and wherein said curved recesshas a maximum recess depth that is in the range from about 0.11millimeters to about 4.04 millimeters.
 2. The electrochromic mirrorreflective element of claim 1, wherein said auxiliary wide angle curvedportion is inboard of a perimeter edge of said electrochromic mirrorreflective element, and wherein said principal planar reflector portionof said electrochromic mirror reflective element surrounds saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion of said electrochromic mirrorreflective element.
 3. The electrochromic mirror reflective element ofclaim 2, wherein said curved recess is generally circular-shaped andcomprises a spherical convex-curved surface.
 4. The electrochromicmirror reflective element of claim 3, wherein said spherically curvedand generally circular-shaped recess has a maximum recess depth H thatis a function of its radius of curvature R and its cross-dimension sizeD.
 5. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 4, wherein:H=R−(R^2−(D/2)^2)^0.5.
 6. The electrochromic mirror reflective elementof claim 1, wherein said auxiliary wide angle curved portion comprises acurved recess established at a region of said second surface of saidfront glass substrate by at least one of grinding and ablating.
 7. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 6, wherein said sealcircumscribes the perimeter of said front and rear glass substrates andat least partially circumscribes said auxiliary wide angle curvedportion.
 8. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 6,further comprising a hiding layer that substantially hides the portionof said seal that circumscribes said auxiliary wide angle curved portionfrom view by the driver of the vehicle when an exterior rearview mirrorassembly equipped with said electrochromic mirror reflective element isnormally mounted at the vehicle and the driver is normally operating thevehicle, and wherein said hiding layer is disposed at said secondsurface of said front glass substrate.
 9. The electrochromic mirrorreflective element of claim 8, wherein said electrochromic mirrorreflective element is devoid of said electrochromic medium at saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion, and wherein, when a voltage isapplied to said electrochromic medium of said electrochromic mirrorreflective element, (a) said electrochromic medium dims to reducereflectivity of visible light at said principal planar reflector portionand (b) visible light reflectivity at said auxiliary wide angle curvedportion is substantially unchanged.
 10. The electrochromic mirrorreflective element of claim 9, wherein said hiding layer at least inpart demarcates said auxiliary wide angle curved portion from saidprincipal planar reflector portion when an exterior rearview mirrorassembly equipped with said electrochromic mirror reflective element isnormally mounted at the vehicle and is normally viewed by the driver ofthe vehicle.
 11. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim1, wherein said auxiliary wide angle curved portion comprises a curvedrecess established at a region of said second surface of said frontglass substrate by grinding.
 12. The electrochromic mirror reflectiveelement of claim 1, wherein said electrochromic medium is sandwichedbetween said front and rear glass substrates at said principal planarreflector portion and at said auxiliary wide angle curved portion, andwherein, when a voltage is applied to said electrochromic medium of saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element, said electrochromic mediumdims to reduce reflectivity of visible light at said principal planarreflector portion and at said auxiliary wide angle curved portion. 13.The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 12, furthercomprising a hiding layer that at least partially circumscribes saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion.
 14. The electrochromic mirrorreflective element of claim 13, wherein said hiding layer is disposed atsaid second surface of said front glass substrate.
 15. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 1, wherein saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion comprises a curved recessestablished at a region of said fourth surface of said rear glasssubstrate by at least one of grinding and ablating.
 16. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 15, wherein said sealcircumscribes the perimeter of said front and rear glass substrates andat least partially circumscribes said auxiliary wide angle curvedportion.
 17. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 16,further comprising a hiding layer that substantially hides the portionof said seal that circumscribes said auxiliary wide angle curved portionfrom view by the driver of the vehicle when an exterior rearview mirrorassembly equipped with said electrochromic mirror reflective element isnormally mounted at the vehicle and the driver is normally operating thevehicle.
 18. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 17,wherein said hiding layer is disposed at said second surface of saidfront glass substrate.
 19. The electrochromic mirror reflective elementof claim 15, wherein said electrochromic medium is sandwiched betweensaid front and rear glass substrates at said principal planar reflectorportion and at said auxiliary wide angle curved portion, and wherein,when a voltage is applied to said electrochromic medium of saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element, said electrochromic mediumdims to reduce reflectivity of visible light at said principal planarreflector portion and at said auxiliary wide angle curved portion. 20.The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 15, wherein saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element is devoid of saidelectrochromic medium at said auxiliary wide angle curved portion, andwherein, when a voltage is applied to said electrochromic medium of saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element, (a) said electrochromic mediumdims to reduce reflectivity of visible light at said principal planarreflector portion and (b) visible light reflectivity at said auxiliarywide angle curved portion is substantially unchanged.
 21. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 20, wherein said sealcircumscribes the perimeter of said front and rear glass substrates andat least partially circumscribes said auxiliary wide angle curvedportion, and wherein a hiding layer substantially hides the portion ofsaid seal that circumscribes said auxiliary wide angle curved portionfrom view by the driver of the vehicle when an exterior rearview mirrorassembly equipped with said electrochromic mirror reflective element isnormally mounted at the vehicle and the driver is normally operating thevehicle, and wherein said hiding layer is disposed at said secondsurface of said front glass substrate.
 22. The electrochromic mirrorreflective element of claim 21, wherein said principal mirror reflectorof said principal planar reflector portion disposed at said rear glasssubstrate is disposed at said third surface of said rear glass substratebetween said rear glass substrate and said electrochromic medium, andwherein said principal mirror reflector of said principal planarreflector portion disposed at said third surface of said rear glasssubstrate comprises a light-transmitting aperture, and wherein saidlight-transmitting aperture substantially corresponds to said auxiliarywide angle curved portion of said electrochromic mirror reflectiveelement.
 23. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 22,wherein said auxiliary wide angle curved portion comprises a curvedrecess established at a region of said fourth surface of said rear glasssubstrate by grinding.
 24. The electrochromic mirror reflective elementof claim 1, wherein said principal mirror reflector of said principalplanar reflector portion disposed at said rear glass substrate isdisposed at said third surface of said rear glass substrate between saidrear glass substrate and said electrochromic medium, and wherein saidprincipal mirror reflector of said principal planar reflector portioncomprises a transflective principal mirror reflector disposed at saidthird surface of said rear glass substrate between said rear glasssubstrate and said electrochromic medium.
 25. The electrochromic mirrorreflective element of claim 1, wherein said principal mirror reflectorof said principal planar reflector portion comprises at least one ofaluminum, silver, chromium, an aluminum alloy, a silver alloy and achromium alloy, and wherein said auxiliary mirror reflector of saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion comprises at least another ofaluminum, silver, chromium, an aluminum alloy, a silver alloy and achromium alloy.
 26. The electrochromic mirror reflective element ofclaim 1, wherein said auxiliary mirror reflector of said auxiliary wideangle curved portion is coated at said curved recess via sputterdeposition.
 27. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim26, wherein said electrochromic medium is sandwiched between said frontand rear glass substrates at said principal planar reflector portion andat said auxiliary wide angle curved portion, and wherein, when a voltageis applied to said electrochromic medium of said electrochromic mirrorreflective element, said electrochromic medium dims to reducereflectivity of visible light at said principal planar reflector portionand at said auxiliary wide angle curved portion.
 28. The electrochromicmirror reflective element of claim 1, wherein said auxiliary wide anglecurved portion comprises a curved recess established at a region of saidsecond surface of said front glass substrate by at least one of grindingand ablating, and wherein said front glass substrate has a thickness ofno greater than about 2 millimeters, and wherein said curved recess hasa maximum recess depth that is in the range from about 0.11 millimetersto about 1.57 millimeters.
 29. The electrochromic mirror reflectiveelement of claim 28, wherein said cross-dimension size of said curvedrecess is in the range from about 30 millimeters to about 50millimeters.
 30. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim28, wherein said curved recess is generally circular-shaped andcomprises a spherical convex-curved surface, and wherein saidspherically curved and generally circular-shaped recess has a maximumrecess depth that is a function of its radius of curvature and itscross-dimension size.
 31. The electrochromic mirror reflective elementof claim 1, wherein said auxiliary wide angle curved portion comprises acurved recess established at a region of said fourth surface of saidrear glass substrate by at least one of grinding and ablating, andwherein said rear glass substrate has a thickness of no greater thanabout 2 millimeters, wherein said curved recess has a maximum recessdepth that is in the range from about 0.11 millimeters to about 1.57millimeters.
 32. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim31, wherein said cross-dimension size of said curved recess is in therange from about 30 millimeters to about 50 millimeters.
 33. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 1, wherein saidprincipal mirror reflector of said principal planar reflector portiondisposed at said rear glass substrate is disposed at said third surfaceof said rear glass substrate between said rear glass substrate and saidelectrochromic medium.
 34. The electrochromic minor reflective elementof claim 33, wherein said principal mirror reflector of said principalplanar reflector portion disposed at said third surface of said rearglass substrate comprises a metallic reflector that is coated at saidcurved recess via sputter deposition.
 35. The electrochromic mirrorreflective element of claim 33, wherein said auxiliary wide angle curvedportion comprises a curved recess established at a region of said fourthsurface of said rear glass substrate by at least one of grinding andablating, and wherein said rear glass substrate has a thickness of nogreater than about 2 millimeters, and wherein said curved recess has amaximum recess depth that is in the range from about 0.11 millimeters toabout 1.57 millimeters, and wherein said principal mirror reflector ofsaid principal planar reflector portion at said third surface of saidrear glass substrate comprises a light-transmitting aperture, andwherein said light-transmitting aperture substantially corresponds tosaid auxiliary wide angle curved portion of said electrochromic mirrorreflective element.
 36. The electrochromic mirror reflective element ofclaim 1, wherein said electrochromic mirror reflective element is devoidof said electrochromic medium at said auxiliary wide angle curvedportion, and wherein, when a voltage is applied to said electrochromicmedium of said electrochromic mirror reflective element, (a) saidelectrochromic medium dims to reduce reflectivity of visible light atsaid principal planar reflector portion and (b) visible lightreflectivity at said auxiliary wide angle curved portion issubstantially unchanged.
 37. The electrochromic mirror reflectiveelement of claim 36, further comprising a hiding layer that at leastpartially circumscribes said auxiliary wide angle curved portion. 38.The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 37, wherein saidhiding layer is disposed at said second surface of said front glasssubstrate.
 39. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 1,wherein said auxiliary mirror reflector coated at said curved recess ofsaid auxiliary wide angle curved portion comprises a generallyconvex-shaped reflector having a compound curvature convex shape. 40.The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 1, wherein, whenan exterior rearview mirror assembly equipped with said electrochromicmirror reflective element is normally mounted at the side of a vehicle,said auxiliary wide angle curved portion is generally disposed at anoutboard upper region of said electrochromic mirror reflective elementrelative to the side of the vehicle.
 41. An electrochromic mirrorreflective element suitable for use in an exterior rearview mirrorassembly of a vehicle, said electrochromic mirror reflective elementcomprising: a front glass substrate having a first surface and a secondsurface; a rear glass substrate having a third surface and a fourthsurface; an electrochromic medium disposed between said front and rearglass substrates, wherein said electrochromic medium is bounded by aseal; said electrochromic mirror reflective element comprising aprincipal planar reflector portion and an auxiliary wide angle curvedportion; wherein said principal planar reflector portion comprises aprincipal mirror reflector disposed at said rear glass substrate;wherein said principal mirror reflector of said principal planarreflector portion disposed at said rear glass substrate is disposed atsaid third surface of said rear glass substrate between said rear glasssubstrate and said electrochromic medium; wherein said auxiliary wideangle curved portion comprises a curved recess established at a regionof said second surface of said front glass substrate by at least one ofgrinding and ablating; wherein said auxiliary wide angle curved portioncomprises an auxiliary mirror reflector coated at said curved recess;wherein said first surface of said front glass substrate comprises agenerally planar surface; wherein said third surface of said rear glasssubstrate comprises a generally planar surface; wherein said auxiliarywide angle curved portion is inboard of a perimeter edge of saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element, and wherein said principalplanar reflector portion of said electrochromic mirror reflectiveelement surrounds said auxiliary wide angle curved portion of saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element; wherein said curved recess hasa cross-dimension size that is in the range from about 30 millimeters toabout 80 millimeters; wherein said curved recess comprises a radius ofcurvature that is in the range from about 200 millimeters to about 1,000millimeters; wherein said curved recess has a maximum recess depth thatis in the range from about 0.11 millimeters to about 4.04 millimeters;and wherein said curved recess is generally circular-shaped andcomprises a spherical convex-curved surface.
 42. The electrochromicmirror reflective element of claim 41, wherein said spherically curvedand generally circular-shaped curved recess has a maximum recess depth Hthat is a function of its radius of curvature R and its cross-dimensionsize D, and wherein:H=R−(R^2−(D/2)^2)^0.5.
 43. The electrochromic mirror reflective elementof claim 41, wherein said seal circumscribes the perimeter of said frontand rear glass substrates and at least partially circumscribes saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion, and wherein a hiding layersubstantially hides the portion of said seal that circumscribes saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion from view by the driver of thevehicle when an exterior rearview mirror assembly equipped with saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element is normally mounted at thevehicle and the driver is normally operating the vehicle, and whereinsaid hiding layer is disposed at said second surface of said front glasssubstrate.
 44. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 43,wherein said electrochromic mirror reflective element is devoid of saidelectrochromic medium at said auxiliary wide angle curved portion, andwherein, when a voltage is applied to said electrochromic medium of saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element, (a) said electrochromic mediumdims to reduce reflectivity of visible light at said principal planarreflector portion and (b) visible light reflectivity at said auxiliarywide angle curved portion is substantially unchanged.
 45. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 41, wherein a hidinglayer at least in part demarcates said auxiliary wide angle curvedportion from said principal planar reflector portion when an exteriorrearview mirror assembly equipped with said electrochromic mirrorreflective element is normally mounted at the vehicle and is normallyviewed by the driver of the vehicle.
 46. The electrochromic mirrorreflective element of claim 45, wherein said electrochromic medium issandwiched between said front and rear glass substrates at saidprincipal planar reflector portion and at said auxiliary wide anglecurved portion, and wherein, when a voltage is applied to saidelectrochromic medium of said electrochromic mirror reflective element,said electrochromic medium dims to reduce reflectivity of visible lightat said principal planar reflector portion and at said auxiliary wideangle curved portion.
 47. The electrochromic mirror reflective elementof claim 41, wherein said electrochromic medium is sandwiched betweensaid front and rear glass substrates at said principal planar reflectorportion and at said auxiliary wide angle curved portion, and wherein,when a voltage is applied to said electrochromic medium of saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element, said electrochromic mediumdims to reduce reflectivity of visible light at said principal planarreflector portion and at said auxiliary wide angle curved portion. 48.The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 47, furthercomprising a hiding layer that at least partially circumscribes saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion, wherein said hiding layer isdisposed at said second surface of said front glass substrate.
 49. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 41, wherein saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion comprises a curved recessestablished at a region of said second surface of said front glasssubstrate by grinding.
 50. The electrochromic mirror reflective elementof claim 49, wherein said auxiliary mirror reflector of said auxiliarywide angle curved portion is coated at said curved recess via sputterdeposition.
 51. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim41, wherein said front glass substrate has a thickness of no greaterthan about 2 millimeters, and wherein said curved recess has a maximumrecess depth that is in the range from about 0.11 millimeters to about1.57 millimeters.
 52. The electrochromic mirror reflective element ofclaim 51, wherein said cross-dimension size of said curved recess is inthe range from about 30 millimeters to about 50 millimeters.
 53. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 51, wherein saidprincipal mirror reflector of said principal planar reflector portiondisposed at said third surface of said rear glass substrate comprises ametallic reflector that is coated at said curved recess via sputterdeposition.
 54. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim41, further comprising a hiding layer that at least partiallycircumscribes said auxiliary wide angle curved portion, wherein saidhiding layer is disposed at said second surface of said front glasssubstrate.
 55. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 41,wherein, when an exterior rearview mirror assembly equipped with saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element is normally mounted at the sideof a vehicle, said auxiliary wide angle curved portion is generallydisposed at an outboard upper region of said electrochromic mirrorreflective element relative to the side of the vehicle.
 56. Anelectrochromic mirror reflective element suitable for use in an exteriorrearview mirror assembly of a vehicle, said electrochromic mirrorreflective element comprising: a front glass substrate having a firstsurface and a second surface; a rear glass substrate having a thirdsurface and a fourth surface; an electrochromic medium disposed betweensaid front and rear glass substrates, wherein said electrochromic mediumis bounded by a seal; said electrochromic mirror reflective elementcomprising a principal planar reflector portion and an auxiliary wideangle curved portion; wherein said principal planar reflector portioncomprises a principal mirror reflector disposed at said rear glasssubstrate; wherein said principal mirror reflector of said principalplanar reflector portion disposed at said rear glass substrate isdisposed at said third surface of said rear glass substrate between saidrear glass substrate and said electrochromic medium; wherein saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion comprises a curved recessestablished at a region of said fourth surface of said rear glasssubstrate by at least one of grinding and ablating; wherein saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion comprises an auxiliary mirrorreflector coated at said curved recess; wherein said first surface ofsaid front glass substrate comprises a generally planar surface; whereinsaid third surface of said rear glass substrate comprises a generallyplanar surface; wherein said auxiliary wide angle curved portion isinboard of a perimeter edge of said electrochromic mirror reflectiveelement, and wherein said principal planar reflector portion of saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element surrounds said auxiliary wideangle curved portion of said electrochromic mirror reflective element;wherein said curved recess has a cross-dimension size that is in therange from about 30 millimeters to about 80 millimeters; wherein saidcurved recess comprises a radius of curvature that is in the range fromabout 200 millimeters to about 1,000 millimeters; wherein said curvedrecess has a maximum recess depth that is in the range from about 0.11millimeters to about 4.04 millimeters; and wherein said curved recess isgenerally circular-shaped and comprises a spherical convex-curvedsurface.
 57. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 56,wherein said spherically curved and generally circular-shaped curvedrecess has a maximum recess depth H that is a function of its radius ofcurvature R and its cross-dimension size D, and wherein:H=R−(R^2−(D/2)^2)^0.5.
 58. The electrochromic mirror reflective elementof claim 56, wherein said seal circumscribes the perimeter of said frontand rear glass substrates and at least partially circumscribes saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion, and wherein a hiding layersubstantially hides the portion of said seal that circumscribes saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion from view by the driver of thevehicle when an exterior rearview mirror assembly equipped with saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element is normally mounted at thevehicle and the driver is normally operating the vehicle.
 59. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 58, wherein saidhiding layer is disposed at said second surface of said front glasssubstrate.
 60. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 56,wherein said electrochromic medium is sandwiched between said front andrear glass substrates at said principal planar reflector portion and atsaid auxiliary wide angle curved portion, and wherein, when a voltage isapplied to said electrochromic medium of said electrochromic mirrorreflective element, said electrochromic medium dims to reducereflectivity of visible light at said principal planar reflector portionand at said auxiliary wide angle curved portion.
 61. The electrochromicmirror reflective element of claim 56, wherein said electrochromicmirror reflective element is devoid of said electrochromic medium atsaid auxiliary wide angle curved portion, and wherein, when a voltage isapplied to said electrochromic medium of said electrochromic mirrorreflective element, (a) said electrochromic medium dims to reducereflectivity of visible light at said principal planar reflector portionand (b) visible light reflectivity at said auxiliary wide angle curvedportion is substantially unchanged.
 62. The electrochromic mirrorreflective element of claim 61, wherein said seal circumscribes theperimeter of said front and rear glass substrates and at least partiallycircumscribes said auxiliary wide angle curved portion, and wherein ahiding layer substantially hides the portion of said seal thatcircumscribes said auxiliary wide angle curved portion from view by thedriver of the vehicle when an exterior rearview minor assembly equippedwith said electrochromic mirror reflective element is normally mountedat the vehicle and the driver is normally operating the vehicle, andwherein said hiding layer is disposed at said second surface of saidfront glass substrate.
 63. The electrochromic mirror reflective elementof claim 62, wherein said principal mirror reflector of said principalplanar reflector portion at said third surface of said rear glasssubstrate comprises a light-transmitting aperture, and wherein saidlight-transmitting aperture substantially corresponds to said auxiliarywide angle curved portion of said electrochromic mirror reflectiveelement.
 64. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 56,wherein said auxiliary wide angle curved portion comprises a curvedrecess established at a region of said fourth surface of said rear glasssubstrate by grinding.
 65. The electrochromic mirror reflective elementof claim 64, wherein said principal mirror reflector of said principalplanar reflector portion disposed at said third surface of said rearglass substrate comprises a light-transmitting aperture, and whereinsaid light-transmitting aperture substantially corresponds to saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion of said electrochromic mirrorreflective element.
 66. The electrochromic mirror reflective element ofclaim 56, wherein said auxiliary mirror reflector of said auxiliary wideangle curved portion is coated at said curved recess via sputterdeposition.
 67. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim56, wherein said rear glass substrate has a thickness of no greater thanabout 2 millimeters, and wherein said curved recess has a maximum recessdepth that is in the range from about 0.11 millimeters to about 1.57millimeters.
 68. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim67, wherein said cross-dimension size of said curved recess is in therange from about 30 millimeters to about 50 millimeters.
 69. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 67, wherein saidprincipal mirror reflector of said principal planar reflector portiondisposed at said third surface of said rear glass substrate comprises ametallic reflector that is coated at said curved recess via sputterdeposition.
 70. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim56, wherein said principal mirror reflector of said principal planarreflector portion disposed at said third surface of said rear glasssubstrate comprises a light-transmitting aperture, and wherein saidlight-transmitting aperture substantially corresponds to said auxiliarywide angle curved portion of said electrochromic mirror reflectiveelement.
 71. The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 70,wherein said electrochromic mirror reflective element is devoid of saidelectrochromic medium at said auxiliary wide angle curved portion. 72.The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 71, wherein, whena voltage is applied to said electrochromic medium of saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element, (a) said electrochromic mediumdims to reduce reflectivity of visible light at said principal planarreflector portion and (b) visible light reflectivity at said auxiliarywide angle curved portion is substantially unchanged.
 73. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 72, further comprisinga hiding layer that at least partially circumscribes said auxiliary wideangle curved portion.
 74. The electrochromic mirror reflective elementof claim 73, wherein said hiding layer is disposed at said secondsurface of said front glass substrate.
 75. The electrochromic mirrorreflective element of claim 70, wherein said electrochromic medium issandwiched between said front and rear glass substrates at saidprincipal planar reflector portion and at said auxiliary wide anglecurved portion, and wherein, when a voltage is applied to saidelectrochromic medium of said electrochromic mirror reflective element,said electrochromic medium dims to reduce reflectivity of visible lightat said principal planar reflector portion and at said auxiliary wideangle curved portion.
 76. The electrochromic mirror reflective elementof claim 75, further comprising a hiding layer that at least partiallycircumscribes said auxiliary wide angle curved portion.
 77. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 56, wherein, when anexterior rearview mirror assembly equipped with said electrochromicmirror reflective element is normally mounted at the side of a vehicle,said auxiliary wide angle curved portion is generally disposed at anoutboard upper region of said electrochromic mirror reflective elementrelative to the side of the vehicle.
 78. An electrochromic mirrorreflective element suitable for use in an exterior rearview mirrorassembly of a vehicle, said electrochromic mirror reflective elementcomprising: a front glass substrate having a first surface and a secondsurface; a rear glass substrate having a third surface and a fourthsurface; an electrochromic medium disposed between said front and rearglass substrates; said electrochromic mirror reflective elementcomprising a principal planar reflector portion and an auxiliary wideangle curved portion; wherein said principal planar reflector portioncomprises a principal mirror reflector disposed at said rear glasssubstrate; wherein said auxiliary wide angle curved portion comprises acurved recess established at a region of said second surface of saidfront glass substrate by at least one of grinding and ablating; whereinsaid auxiliary wide angle curved portion comprises an auxiliary mirrorreflector coated at said curved recess; wherein said first surface ofsaid front glass substrate comprises a generally planar surface; whereinsaid third surface of said rear glass substrate comprises a generallyplanar surface; wherein said curved recess has a cross-dimension sizethat is in the range from about 30 millimeters to about 50 millimeters;wherein said curved recess comprises a radius of curvature that is inthe range from about 200 millimeters to about 1,000 millimeters; whereinsaid curved recess has a maximum recess depth that is in the range fromabout 0.11 millimeters to about 1.57 millimeters; wherein, when anexterior rearview mirror assembly equipped with said electrochromicmirror reflective element is normally mounted at the side of a vehicle,said auxiliary wide angle curved portion is generally disposed at anoutboard upper region of said electrochromic mirror reflective elementrelative to the side of the vehicle; and wherein said front glasssubstrate has a thickness of no greater than about 2 millimeters. 79.The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 78, wherein saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion is inboard of a perimeter edge ofsaid electrochromic mirror reflective element, and wherein saidprincipal planar reflector portion of said electrochromic mirrorreflective element surrounds said auxiliary wide angle curved portion ofsaid electrochromic mirror reflective element.
 80. The electrochromicmirror reflective element of claim 78, wherein said curved recess isgenerally circular-shaped, and wherein said curved recess comprises aspherical convex-curved surface, and wherein said spherically curved andgenerally circular-shaped curved recess has a maximum recess depth Hthat is a function of its radius of curvature R and its cross-dimensionsize D, and wherein:H=R−(R^2−(D/2)^2)^0.5.
 81. The electrochromic mirror reflective elementof claim 80, wherein said electrochromic medium is sandwiched betweensaid front and rear glass substrates at said principal planar reflectorportion and at said auxiliary wide angle curved portion, and wherein,when a voltage is applied to said electrochromic medium of saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element, said electrochromic mediumdims to reduce reflectivity of visible light at said principal planarreflector portion and at said auxiliary wide angle curved portion. 82.The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 80, furthercomprising a hiding layer that at least partially circumscribes saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion, wherein said hiding layer isdisposed at said second surface of said front glass substrate.
 83. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 82, wherein saidhiding layer at least in part demarcates said auxiliary wide anglecurved portion from said principal planar reflector portion when theexterior rearview mirror assembly equipped with said electrochromicmirror reflective element is normally mounted at the vehicle and isnormally viewed by the driver of the vehicle.
 84. The electrochromicmirror reflective element of claim 78, wherein said auxiliary wide anglecurved portion comprises a curved recess established at a region of saidsecond surface of said front glass substrate by grinding, and whereinsaid auxiliary mirror reflector of said auxiliary wide angle curvedportion is coated at said curved recess via sputter deposition.
 85. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 84, wherein saidprincipal mirror reflector of said principal planar reflector portiondisposed at said rear glass substrate is disposed at said third surfaceof said rear glass substrate between said rear glass substrate and saidelectrochromic medium, and wherein said principal mirror reflector ofsaid principal planar reflector portion disposed at said third surfaceof said rear glass substrate comprises a metallic reflector that iscoated at said curved recess via sputter deposition.
 86. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 78, wherein saidelectrochromic medium is bounded by a seal, and wherein said sealcircumscribes the perimeter of said front and rear glass substrates andat least partially circumscribes said auxiliary wide angle curvedportion, and wherein a hiding layer substantially hides the portion ofsaid seal that circumscribes said auxiliary wide angle curved portionfrom view by the driver of the vehicle when an exterior rearview mirrorassembly equipped with said electrochromic mirror reflective element isnormally mounted at the vehicle and the driver is normally operating thevehicle, and wherein said hiding layer is disposed at said secondsurface of said front glass substrate, and wherein said electrochromicmirror reflective element is devoid of said electrochromic medium atsaid auxiliary wide angle curved portion, and wherein, when a voltage isapplied to said electrochromic medium of said electrochromic mirrorreflective element, (a) said electrochromic medium dims to reducereflectivity of visible light at said principal planar reflector portionand (b) visible light reflectivity at said auxiliary wide angle curvedportion is substantially unchanged.
 87. The electrochromic mirrorreflective element of claim 86, wherein said hiding layer at least inpart demarcates said auxiliary wide angle curved portion from saidprincipal planar reflector portion when an exterior rearview mirrorassembly equipped with said electrochromic mirror reflective element isnormally mounted at the vehicle and is normally viewed by the driver ofthe vehicle.
 88. An electrochromic mirror reflective element suitablefor use in an exterior rearview mirror assembly of a vehicle, saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element comprising: a front glasssubstrate having a first surface and a second surface; a rear glasssubstrate having a third surface and a fourth surface; an electrochromicmedium disposed between said front and rear glass substrates; saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element comprising a principal planarreflector portion and an auxiliary wide angle curved portion; whereinsaid principal planar reflector portion comprises a principal mirrorreflector disposed at said rear glass substrate; wherein said auxiliarywide angle curved portion comprises a curved recess established at aregion of said fourth surface of said rear glass substrate by at leastone of grinding and ablating; wherein said auxiliary wide angle curvedportion comprises an auxiliary mirror reflector coated at said curvedrecess; wherein said first surface of said front glass substratecomprises a generally planar surface; wherein said third surface of saidrear glass substrate comprises a generally planar surface; wherein saidcurved recess has a cross-dimension size that is in the range from about30 millimeters to about 50 millimeters; wherein said curved recesscomprises a radius of curvature that is in the range from about 200millimeters to about 1,000 millimeters; wherein said curved recess has amaximum recess depth that is in the range from about 0.11 millimeters toabout 1.57 millimeters; wherein, when an exterior rearview mirrorassembly equipped with said electrochromic mirror reflective element isnormally mounted at the side of a vehicle, said auxiliary wide anglecurved portion is generally disposed at an outboard upper region of saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element relative to the side of thevehicle; and wherein said rear glass substrate has a thickness of nogreater than about 2 millimeters.
 89. The electrochromic mirrorreflective element of claim 88, wherein said auxiliary wide angle curvedportion is inboard of a perimeter edge of said electrochromic mirrorreflective element, and wherein said principal planar reflector portionof said electrochromic mirror reflective element surrounds saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion of said electrochromic mirrorreflective element.
 90. The electrochromic mirror reflective element ofclaim 88, wherein said curved recess is generally circular-shaped, andwherein said curved recess comprises a spherical convex-curved surface,and wherein said spherically curved and generally circular-shaped curvedrecess has a maximum recess depth H that is a function of its radius ofcurvature R and its cross-dimension size D, and wherein:H=R−(R^2−(D/2)^2)^0.5.
 91. The electrochromic mirror reflective elementof claim 90, wherein said electrochromic medium is bounded by a seal,and wherein said seal circumscribes the perimeter of said front and rearglass substrates and at least partially circumscribes said auxiliarywide angle curved portion, and wherein a hiding layer substantiallyhides the portion of said seal that circumscribes said auxiliary wideangle curved portion from view by the driver of the vehicle when anexterior rearview mirror assembly equipped with said electrochromicmirror reflective element is normally mounted at the vehicle and thedriver is normally operating the vehicle, and wherein said hiding layeris disposed at said second surface of said front glass substrate. 92.The electrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 91, wherein saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element is devoid of saidelectrochromic medium at said auxiliary wide angle curved portion, andwherein, when a voltage is applied to said electrochromic medium of saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element, (a) said electrochromic mediumdims to reduce reflectivity of visible light at said principal planarreflector portion and (b) visible light reflectivity at said auxiliarywide angle curved portion is substantially unchanged.
 93. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 90, wherein saidelectrochromic medium is sandwiched between said front and rear glasssubstrates at said principal planar reflector portion and at saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion, and wherein, when a voltage isapplied to said electrochromic medium of said electrochromic mirrorreflective element, said electrochromic medium dims to reducereflectivity of visible light at said principal planar reflector portionand at said auxiliary wide angle curved portion.
 94. The electrochromicmirror reflective element of claim 88, wherein said principal mirrorreflector of said principal planar reflector portion disposed at saidrear glass substrate is disposed at said third surface of said rearglass substrate between said rear glass substrate and saidelectrochromic medium, and wherein said principal mirror reflector ofsaid principal planar reflector portion at said third surface of saidrear glass substrate comprises a light-transmitting aperture, andwherein said light-transmitting aperture substantially corresponds tosaid auxiliary wide angle curved portion of said electrochromic mirrorreflective element, and wherein said auxiliary wide angle curved portioncomprises a curved recess established at a region of said fourth surfaceof said rear glass substrate by grinding.
 95. The electrochromic mirrorreflective element of claim 88, wherein said principal mirror reflectorof said principal planar reflector portion disposed at said rear glasssubstrate is disposed at said third surface of said rear glass substratebetween said rear glass substrate and said electrochromic medium, andwherein said principal mirror reflector of said principal planarreflector portion disposed at said third surface of said rear glasssubstrate comprises a metallic reflector that is coated at said curvedrecess via sputter deposition.
 96. The electrochromic mirror reflectiveelement of claim 95, wherein said principal mirror reflector of saidprincipal planar reflector portion disposed at said third surface ofsaid rear glass substrate comprises a light-transmitting aperture, andwherein said light-transmitting aperture substantially corresponds tosaid auxiliary wide angle curved portion of said electrochromic mirrorreflective element, and wherein said auxiliary mirror reflector of saidauxiliary wide angle curved portion is coated at said curved recess viasputter deposition.
 97. The electrochromic mirror reflective element ofclaim 88, wherein said principal mirror reflector of said principalplanar reflector portion disposed at said rear glass substrate isdisposed at said third surface of said rear glass substrate between saidrear glass substrate and said electrochromic medium, and wherein saidprincipal mirror reflector of said principal planar reflector portiondisposed at said third surface of said rear glass substrate comprises alight-transmitting aperture, and wherein said light-transmittingaperture substantially corresponds to said auxiliary wide angle curvedportion of said electrochromic mirror reflective element.
 98. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 97, wherein saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element is devoid of saidelectrochromic medium at said auxiliary wide angle curved portion, andwherein, when a voltage is applied to said electrochromic medium of saidelectrochromic mirror reflective element, (a) said electrochromic mediumdims to reduce reflectivity of visible light at said principal planarreflector portion and (b) visible light reflectivity at said auxiliarywide angle curved portion is substantially unchanged.
 99. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 98, further comprisinga hiding layer that at least partially circumscribes said auxiliary wideangle curved portion, wherein said hiding layer is disposed at saidsecond surface of said front glass substrate.
 100. The electrochromicmirror reflective element of claim 97, wherein said electrochromicmedium is sandwiched between said front and rear glass substrates atsaid principal planar reflector portion and at said auxiliary wide anglecurved portion, and wherein, when a voltage is applied to saidelectrochromic medium of said electrochromic mirror reflective element,said electrochromic medium dims to reduce reflectivity of visible lightat said principal planar reflector portion and at said auxiliary wideangle curved portion.
 101. The electrochromic mirror reflective elementof claim 100, further comprising a hiding layer that at least partiallycircumscribes said auxiliary wide angle curved portion.
 102. Theelectrochromic mirror reflective element of claim 88, wherein, when anexterior rearview mirror assembly equipped with said electrochromicmirror reflective element is normally mounted at the side of a vehicle,said auxiliary wide angle curved portion is generally disposed at anoutboard upper region of said electrochromic mirror reflective elementrelative to the side of the vehicle.
 103. The electrochromic mirrorreflective element of claim 88, wherein said principal mirror reflectorof said principal planar reflector portion disposed at said rear glasssubstrate is disposed at said third surface of said rear glass substratebetween said rear glass substrate and said electrochromic medium.